UPFA
General Secretary Susil Premjayantha says that once the delayed results
of Nawalapitiya and Trincomalee polling divisions are announced, the
ruling coalition’s final tally will go up to 143 seats, including 17
from the National List.

Addressing the media at the Mahaweli Centre yesterday, the former
Education Minister said that the Election Secretariat had announced the
results of 20 out of 22 electoral districts.

Of the 180 MPs elected from the 20 electoral districts, the UPFA has
secured 117 seats; the UNP 46; the TNA 12 and the JVP-led Democratic
National Alliance (DNA) the remaining five.

According to Premjayantha, the UPFA could win seven out of 12 seats
in Kandy and two out of four seats in Trincomalee. He asserted that the
re-poll ordered by the Election Secretariat due to the annulment of
polling in 34 polling booths at Nawalapitiya and one at Trincomalee
would not alter their final result.

Responding to a query by The Island, Premjayantha said that it
would not be appropriate for him to comment on persons allegedly
involved in incidents, which prompted Elections Commissioner Dayananda
Dissanayake to order a re-poll.

Supporters of former ministers, Mahindananda Aluthgamage and Susantha
Punchinilame are alleged to have caused mayhem at Nawalapitiya and
Trincomalee, respectively, a charge denied by them.

Premjayantha said that unlike any other previous national election,
the UPFA would be represented in all 22 electoral districts, including
Jaffna and Vanni.

Emphasising that they had already established full control in
Parliament, Premjayantha said that an overwhelming victories at the
January 26 presidential election and the general election would give a
turbo boost to the UPFA’s development efforts.

SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sisisena invited elected members
of the Opposition to accept President Mahinda Rajapaksa's leadership
without being an impediment to the country's rapid progress in the wake
of the armed forces’ triumph over the LTTE.

Former Transport Minister Dallas Alahapperuma urged the UNP and the
JVP not to give foolish excuses for their latest electoral defeat. He
said that nothing could be as idiotic as trying to portray a low
voter-turn out at the general election as a defeat for the UPFA.
Acknowledging that the turn-out was low when compared with previous
general elections, he said that the UPFA had increased its percentage to
60.43 per cent from 57 per cent obtained at the January 26 presidential
poll. The joint Opposition, which secured a 41 per cent at the
presidential election in January, was now down to 37 per cent, he said.

UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake did not know what he was
talking, Alahpperuma said.